Jealous
by runaway-run
Summary: Jo has a picnic with Laurie and his friends. A girl is particularly interested in him and Jo gets jealous. One shot


I haven't written any Jo/Laurie stuff in a long time, so I hope this one shot is not completely awful. I had this idea and just had to write it down.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Alcott's work, sadly.

Jealous

It was a beautiful, sunny day of June and Jo was getting ready to leave the house to have a picnic with Laurie and some of his friends. Jo had met Laurie's friends before, Frank and Harry, and she liked them, but she didn't know Harry's sister had joined the group as well. Jo had never seen her before and when she greeted the folks, gathered in Mr. Laurence's garden, she glanced at that girl trying to decide if she liked her. She looked about her age, seventeen, and she had a refined, attractive air. Her golden locks were very much like Amy's and she was pretty, although not one of the prettiest girls Jo had met. But she was gazing at Laurie adoringly and that puzzled Jo.

"Jo!" Laurie saw her and waved. "This is Eleanor Wright, Harry's sister, Eleanor, this is my friend Jo March!"

Eleanor politely smiled at her. "Laurie has told us many things about you."

"Has he? He talks too much sometimes!" Jo smiled back, not feeling completely at ease for some reason.

"That's you, not me." Laurie corrected her.

Jo greeted Frank and Harry as well and they happily started walking until they reached one of Laurie's favorite spots. They played games for a while, until they all agreed they were hungry and got ready to eat.

Jo was busy discussing Defoe's works with Frank and Harry, when she noticed Eleanor was insisting Laurie ate something she'd cooked. Laurie did, complimenting her culinary skills, and Eleanor beamed happily at him, wiping something away from his mouth with her handkerchief.

That gesture irritated Jo more than anything but she pretended she hadn't noticed and immersed herself once again in conversation with the two boys. "I'd rather read Dickens or Shakespeare than Defoe, honestly." she told Harry, while bravely trying to ignore his sister was so close to her friend and clearly romantically interested in him… but the more she looked their way, the more aggravated she felt. What really annoyed her was her inability to determine if Laurie was interested in Eleanor Wright as well.

"What's your opinion about it, Jo?" Frank asked her.

"Hum…" She hadn't been listening to the last part of the discussion. "I don't know, what do you think?"

"Oh, I would love to live in England, but I am sure I would miss Concord eventually."

Jo wondered how an afternoon could possibly seem that long. When Laurie's friends departed later, Eleanor looked ready to kiss Laurie goodbye but she thankfully didn't and Jo stared at the carriage leave, glad that Eleanor Wright was getting far, far away from her. And from Teddy.

"Well, that was a nice afternoon." Laurie exclaimed, walking close to her.

"Yes, you seemed to enjoy Miss Wright's company immensely." Jo scoffed as she walked through the garden, toward the front door of her house.

"She's nice, isn't she? She is well spoken and knows all about Europe, she would like to live there in the future." Laurie told her as he took off his hat and examined it, looking for traces of dirt.

"Maybe you two could live in Europe together." Jo coldly remarked. She'd reached the patio.

"What? Hey, Jo, wait!" He reached her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "What's the matter? You seem upset."

"No, you're wrong. Don't waste anymore of your precious time with me, go home, I am sure you have plenty of things to do. Don't forget to write Miss Wright a nice long letter about the play you're going to see tomorrow." She told him and tried to get inside, but Laurie stopped her again. "Jo… if she bothers you that much, I will not invite her again."

"She does not bother me. You can invite her, travel the world with her for all I care." She replied, stubborn.

"Jo, you should not be jealous of her…"

"Who's jealous of her?" she finally turned and looked into his warm, dark eyes. "I was your friend first, wasn't I, Teddy?" she asked as if she needed confirmation of that fact to feel better.

Laurie realized, shockingly, that Jo was jealous of _him._ The thought made him feel all good inside. "Yes, you were." He reassured her. "And you will always be my dearest friend." He added. Jo looked happier, but the smile fell off her face when Laurie, grinning, got closer to her and whispered: "However, you've got to admit you _are_ jealous of me."

"I am not!" she cried. "Nonsense!"

"Well if you are not, you won't mind knowing I am invited to the Wright's house for tea tomorrow." He casually informed her.

Jo's face darkened and she bit her lip, trying not to throw an insult at Eleanor's way, and Laurie insisted: "See, you are jealous!"

"You are so arrogant!" she opened the door and just before getting inside she threw a last remark at him: "I have no idea what you are talking about!"

_I have,_ Laurie happily thought as he walked home, feeling more content than he had one in a long time.


End file.
